For my own divination, I used the brand new Schiffer edition of Joanna Powell Colbert’s beloved Gaian Tarot, which felt very appropriate considering the subject matter. (In-depth review of the deck coming soon; watch this space!)

I didn’t specify a particular spread of cards; rather, I simply pulled three cards in answer to the question (plus a couple of extras):

I got The World reversed, the Three of Water, and the Two of Fire reversed.

The “underlying energy” or theme card – a technique I learned from tarot reader Adana Washington, wherein you consult the card on the bottom of the deck after shuffling and cutting – was the Nine of Fire reversed. The “next steps” card, which I pulled during the Delphic Days call, was the Six of Earth.

We need to know that underneath the issue of right relationship is an energetic imbalance.

We must return to a balanced state of being on every level. The natural flow between Source, ourselves, our planet, and all her creatures is blocked — and the blockage doesn’t come from them. It comes from us.

We must, to borrow one of Bri’s favorite phrases, strive to be whole, healed, and holy.

We must acknowledge that the change begins within ourselves.

As sacred artists, we ought to be on the front lines of this internal-spiraling-outward change! We know all about this! COME ON, my golden delicious magical chickens!

Heal yourself. And if you’re here to facilitate healing for others, for heaven’s sake do the work.

But as Bri pointed out, sometimes healing an old wound means we have to lance the wound – opening it up so it may drain of poison. And opening up is hard when you’re a sensitive, skinless sacred artist. It hurts to open ourselves to our own pain and it hurts to feel into our relationships with the Earth and all her creatures, because they are hurting and we caused their pain.

If we can’t face this pain and do our part to heal these relationships, we’ll die. The Earth will shake and boil until we’re gone, and she’ll move on.

Speaking of the dead, I strongly feel from these cards and this conversation that in order to heal these relationships – and survive as a species – we’re called to return to old ways, ways that live in our subconscious/ancestral memory.

We’re asked to speak with and listen to the dead.

The dead have a lot to say.

The elevated dead can help us access and understand the old ways we seek to retrieve. They can bridge the gaps between us and the rest of the planet. And because they actually want to engage with us, they’re an excellent place to start when it comes to improving our relationships with both the spirit and material worlds.

And make no mistake – the number of Cup/Water cards we collectively got in our divinations is a clear indication that we must include the world of spirit in our mission to improve relations with our world and the creatures that make it up.

If you are not one who easily speaks with the dead but are interested in learning more, you might consider booking a Skype session with me. I’m a medium and a channel in addition to being an astrologer and tarot reader, and it’s time I stepped up and brought these gifts into play.

The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast

The slow one now will later be fast

As the present now will later be past

The order is rapidly fading

And the first one now will later be last

The biggest takeaway I had from Delphic Days was this: we must play to our strengths, whatever they may be.

And I’m talking both magical and mundane strengths (so-called, because we know the line between the two is much less rigid than one might think).

If you can get out on the streets, hold a sign, or make your loud voice heard (I learned at a #BlackLivesMatter protest recently that my voice is very, very loud), then do that.

If you have the bandwidth to have hard conversations with the people in your life, then do that.

If you’re a talented at protection magic, justice work, blessings, hexing, or any kind of sacred arts whatsoever, do that work. Apply it to the change you know must occur in the world. The wise Professor Porterfield once advised me to take the old spells and rituals of protection, blessing, etc. and adapt them for the needs of the movement.

If you are an entertainer or an artist, if your gift is to uplift people who are being weighed down by the struggle, then do that. Joy is a vital part of the equation: without joy, love, and play, how can we continue? How can we be whole, healed, and holy?

Do what you can. Play to your strengths.

And remember:

In this mission to cultivate right relationship with the planet and all the other beings who live here, sacred arts are key. As sacred artists, one of the best places to start is to make space in our routine to sit with these kinds of questions, engaging our minds, emotions, and the Otherworld in order to come to whole, healed, and holy answers.